Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Author's Note

"Even in a life without a single day of sunshine, I find a piece of sunshine."
_Park Sang-young (novelist)

“Now is the time.
It's time for them all to come to their senses.
In a house with four adults, not a single person earns money… … .”_From the text

If you think it's a miracle,
Maybe everything really is a miracle
Soo-kyung is practically the head of the household.
Her father, Cheon-sik, and her husband, Woo-jae, had easygoing and innocent personalities, while Soo-kyung and her mother, Yeo-suk, had strong vitality.
So, Asan-sik and Woo-jae mostly stayed at home—Woo-jae, a full-time investor, unfortunately wasn't making any money—while Soo-kyung and Yeo-suk went out and made money.
They didn't find this balance bad.
Until that happened to Soo-kyung.
One day, Soo-kyung closed a deal with a new client and an impromptu dinner was arranged.
She was recognized for her abilities in front of her teammates, and everyone had fun.
A perfectly ordinary and rewarding day, with nothing special expected to happen.
But that day, Soo-kyung opened her eyes in a motel.
The colleague knelt before Soo-kyung and prayed.
There was no ill intention, Soo-kyung looked so tired that she fell asleep, so I took her to a motel.
However, zolpidem is found in Soo-kyung's body.
If the motel owner, who found the colleague carrying Soo-kyung suspicious, had not reported it to the police, things would have been worse.
Soo-kyung, who almost becomes a victim of drug-related sexual assault, suffers from fear every day and eventually submits her resignation to the company.

“The team leader had a look of relief on his face, and the tension and silence that had been pervading the team members subsided in that moment.
It was ice.
Ice filled with poison.
Su-gyeong was such a being that she could not be melted, but she was also not someone that could be held in her arms until she died.
Soo-kyung realized that as she left the company (……) Overcoming is something that only happens in movies.
It's impossible in reality.
It's not about overcoming, it's about enduring.
“It is about gritting your teeth and enduring it.”_From the text

When Soo-kyung, who was the de facto head of the household, quits her job and even her mother, Yeo-suk, who had been steadily helping with their living expenses, quits her job to take care of her daughter, not a single one of the five family members earns any money.
Even Woojae, who is old enough to do more than just one person's job, is having a hard time finding a new job due to a career gap.
I didn't have enough experience to apply for a career position, and I was too old to apply as an entry-level employee.
To make matters worse, Soo-kyung breaks her savings to pay the settlement money to her nephew Jun-hoo, who goes to find the suspect and beats him up.
But who can blame Jun-hoo?
Soo-kyung was the victim, and her colleague was clearly the perpetrator.
But as the money I had saved gradually dwindled, my heart grew heavy.
Looking at Soo-kyung and her family like that, Bora felt frustrated.
Why on earth does everyone just avoid it?

“Does Soo-kyung think so too?
That guy is unlucky.
He said he did that because he had never made any money and had no need to.
He said it was because he was still young, only twenty-three years old, and didn't know much about life.
Even if Bora thought that way, Soo-kyung wanted her to know this one thing.
“This fight is for you, sister.”_From the text

Soo-kyung, who had been wandering, soon pulls herself together and declares to her family.
We can't continue living like this.
I need to go out and earn money.
The story of Soo-kyung, who tries to quickly overcome her wounds and return to her daily life out of a sense of responsibility for her family, and her family who tries to help her.
Those who have been living as platform workers gradually dream of a different beginning.

“Standing up for yourself.
Walking with scars.
To re-enter society and live a fulfilling and fulfilling life, becoming a member of society and family.
“I wanted to try that.”_From the text


The reality of women's labor in the 21st century
A delightful and honest narrative that embraces with solidarity and warmth.

Literary critic Ahn Seo-hyun said of “Help Me Sister,” “Lee Seo-su’s forte is creating characters living in the present and vividly portraying the vague desires of a large family of various generations without missing a single thing.”
From “Your 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds” to “The Age of Mizo,” Lee Seo-su brings stories that are closely related to our lives but remain in blind spots onto paper and builds them into his own solid world.
What Soo-kyung went through is not uncommon for women in the 21st century workplace.
Just as Yeo-suk recalls the sexual harassment she suffered in the past while watching her daughter unable to leave the house due to fear and anxiety, incidents and accidents that threaten us, even if they are not drug-related crimes, occur unexpectedly and ultimately destroy a person and a family.

'Help Me Sister', which Soo-kyung and Yeo-suk jump into after delivering by car, is an errand app created to overcome women's anxiety among the platform labor that this novel shows throughout.
A space where both clients and job seekers are women.
A service available only to women.
In response to Asanshik's words that there are all kinds of things, Yeosuk says:
“I guess that’s what the world needs.” Soo-kyung and Yeo-sook do self-driving and ‘Help Me Sister’ work, Woo-jae does delivery and designated driving, and Cheon-sik does food delivery on a walking bike.
To protect a family that is on the verge of collapse, to protect myself from a rapidly changing world.
The countless things I encountered and experienced along the way.
The reality and institutional vulnerabilities of platform labor are vividly revealed, providing food for thought.

The ones who show as much growth as Soo-kyung and Woo-jae are Yeo-suk and Cheon-sik.
The two people who were struggling in front of the kiosk are now able to drive quite well and easily order food without any help from the staff.
In this way, Lee Seo-su subtly reaches out to readers through the story of Soo-kyung's family.
Let's not push each other away in difficult situations, but rather embrace each other, and let's stand together instead of collapsing together, showing a gentle and warm solidarity and helping hand.

“It’s a miracle that they are all together like this.
The miracle is that they all decided not to give up and try again.
It's a miracle they're all smiling.
If you think of it as a miracle, maybe everything really becomes a miracle.”_From the text